“Space Jam” Turns 20

Everybody get up it’s time to slam now. We got a real jam goin’ down. Welcome to the Space Jam!

Or more accurately, welcome to “Space Jam’s” 20th anniversary.

That’s right. The cult children’s classic turns 20 this year. The movie was originally released on November 15, 1996, and made $230.4 million worldwide at the box office.

For those who are not familiar with the film, Swackhammer, an evil alien owner of the amusement park planet Moron Mountain, is desperate to get new attractions. So, he decides that the Looney Tunes would be perfect. He sends his gang, the Nerdlucks, to get them to the park, whether the Tunes want to go or not. Bugs Bunny, the clever character that he is, tricks them into agreeing to a competition to determine their freedom. Taking advantage of their minuscule enemies, the Tunes select basketball, knowing that it is essentially a guaranteed win for them. However, the Nerdlucks turn the tables and steal the talents of leading NBA players to become massive basketball bruisers known as the Monstars. In desperation, Bugs Bunny kidnaps Michael Jordan, the G.O.A.T (greatest of all time) who has just retired from professional basketball, to help them beat the Monstars.

The movie came up in the news earlier this year when it was announced this past summer that they are making a sequel starring LeBron James.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary, Warner Bros. and Fathom Events are screening the film at 450-plus movie theaters on November 13 at 2 p.m and 7 p.m., and November 16 at 7 p.m.

This is personally one of my favorite movies of all time. I was not old enough to see it in the theater (I was barely a year old), but my parents bought it on VHS and showed it to me a couple of years later.

As an avid basketball fan, especially of the NBA, I was obsessed with this movie. I thought the appearances from Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Shawn Bradley, Larry Johnson, and Muggsy Bogues were super cool as a kid (one of my favorite scenes is the “Basketball Jones” scene which I have linked down below). My younger brother and I got in heated debates about how exactly Jordan was sucked down the golf course hole. Heck, I love this movie so much I even own a Monstars’ jersey.

Even though a lot of people, especially adults, think that this movie is horrible since it has a plot that doesn’t really make sense, it means a great deal to me. To this day, I still love this movie. So here’s to “Space Jam.” May it continue to entertain basketball fans and cartoon enthusiasts for another 20 years.